I never saw this when it was the talk of the Internets.
Discourse.net: What if Microsoft Had Designed the iPod Box?:
The most amazing thing about this video, though, is who made it: according to the Wall Street Journal, “it was produced by designers at Microsoft, in a spirit of self-criticism. It’s as if they know the sort of great design they ought to be doing, but are too smothered by a corporate culture to deliver it.”
If they know better, does that make them any more likable?
It’s funnier than I expected and if you have ever worked with ex-Softies, it’ll be just that little bit more pungent.
It’s a good design discussion in and of itself: if you look at good products and the design philosophy they share, simplicity is a common theme, from cars to appliances to clothes. A company as well-known as MSFT shouldn’t feel compelled to over-inform as the box video demonstrates, but their well-known inferiority complex gets in the way. Apple, Volvo, Lexus, Mercedes, SubZero . . . . they don’t struggle with that.